I was tempted to give this book fewer stars. The characterization is exceedingly thin. The protagonist is a complete cipher with no family or other important relationships. If he even has a name, I don't remember it less than a month after finishing the book.

But, I went for five stars because this book was downright gripping. The character isn't the point of the story; the changes that humanity has gone through as a result of future evolution is the heart and soul of the tale. It's a disturbing though experiment that makes assumptions about society that feel quite relevant to me. The victorian era stratifiction between the rich and the poor... is our society today really all that different? If you're liberal, you can read this novel as a tale of how mistreating the poor will turn them into dangerous monsters. If you're conservative, this might be read as a morality tale about the poor eating the rich.

Once you get past the unscientific plot device of the time machine itself, this is one of the most "sciencey" science fiction novels I've ever read. A genuine treat for the mind. ( )

It's OK - not very long, not particularly great - but it does have some good things going on.

Probably the best thing about it is that it was written 113 years ago, and was one of the first modern science fiction stories (yes, I know).

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Currently reading on http://www.dailylit.com ( )

The story is the account of an unidentified narrator relaying what was told to him by The Time Traveller. After having created a machine to travel forward in time, the Traveller returns to tell his friends of the society he encountered.

Man has evolved into two species. The Eloi, described as beautiful, playful, small people, live above ground in what appears to be a utopian society. The Morlocks are an albino, half-man, half-ape species that lives underground. Over his time with the Eloi, the Traveller develops the theory that the Eloi are the noble, ruling class. All goods are made by the Morlocks and the Eloi simply fill their days with play and eating. The Traveller later learns the ugly truth that the Eloi are actually the bred food source for the Morlocks.

This was a super-quick read. However, Wells managed to pack in a lot of detail into a small space. He was very descriptive with an economy of words. The relationship of the two races makes an interesting social commentary about the working class and elites. I'm not familiar with politics of the late 1800s, but it's definitely something for consideration today. ( )

The most fascinating thing about this book is the fact that it was published in 1895. I look forward to reading more by Wells! ( )